Audi R8 officially ceases production
Following the discontinuation of the TT model in November last year, another iconic Audi model, the R8, also withdrew from the stage of history. Recently, the last R8 officially rolled off the assembly line at the Bollingerhofen factory in Heilbrunn, Germany . This farewell car is the Performance Quattro version, which uses a Las Vegas yellow body paint, a carbon fiber appearance package and 20-inch wheels.
Previously, after Audi announced the discontinuation of the R8, it had to extend the production cycle of the model in order to meet the influx of orders. It was originally planned to stop production at the end of 2023, but it was eventually postponed to this month. Sales of the R8 increased 49% last year to 1,591 units. However, the R8 remains one of Audi’s lowest-selling models globally.
The sales volume of R8 has been at a low level, which is inseparable from its high selling price. In 2008, R8 sales reached their peak, with a total of 5,016 units sold that year (including coupe and convertible versions).
With the discontinuation of the R8, the famous self-priming V10 engine of the Volkswagen Group will gradually fade out of the stage of history . Lamborghini will also discontinue the Huracan, the R8’s sister model, later this year. The remaining orders are currently fully booked, which means supercars powered by a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 engine will become a thing of the past. The Huracan has always been more popular than the R8, which explains why only Lamborghini will launch a successor this year.
In June 2023, Lamborghini said that the company’s financial situation was good enough to develop new models independently without sharing costs with Audi. The Huracan’s successor will be a pure Lamborghini-style model with a plug-in hybrid system and a small-displacement gasoline engine. According to reports, the engine will run in naturally aspirated mode below 7,000 rpm, before switching to turbocharged mode.
Although Lamborghini is preparing to launch a replacement model, Audi has no plans to launch a direct replacement model for the R8. Although Audi executives have occasionally hinted at the possibility of launching a fully electric alternative model, this is unlikely in the short term. What is certain is that the high-revving V10 engine will disappear from the stage of history forever with the discontinuation of the R8. The reason is both the high price of the R8 and the increasingly stringent emission regulations.
